


The Call

by testing_for_gravity



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Force-Sensitive Hera Syndulla, Hera Syndulla Needs A Hug, Mother-Son Relationship, Parental Hera Syndulla, Pre-Rogue One, Sibling Sabine Wren, Young Jacen Syndulla
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28574409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/testing_for_gravity/pseuds/testing_for_gravity
Summary: With a rogue mission to retrieve the plans to The Death Star imminent, Rebel Command is in need of every fighter they can get. But their best pilot is still on Lothal, focused on raising her infant son in the middle of an impending war. Hera Syndulla doesn’t want to return to base, but it may be now or never for the rebellion she worked to build.(A one-shot of the moments before General Syndulla is paged to the briefing room in "Rogue One".)
Relationships: Hera Syndulla & Jacen Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla, The Ghost Crew & Hera Syndulla
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	The Call

It was a cold day when she got the call.

The chill in the air was a rare occurrence for Lothal, one that came when the planet was only moments away from spring returning. It was the kind of weather Hera loved most, but perhaps she should have sensed the news in the change of the winds. The temperature fluctuated as suddenly as the times these days, and maybe if the young pilot had been more alert that morning she would have felt the shift in the Force. 

But hungry children didn’t wait for the Force, and neither did Hera when she had errands to run.

“I’ll be back before lunch,” She told Sabine, shoving breakfast in front of the Mandalorian despite her insistence she had already eaten. Hera might still be learning about living with an infant, but she wasn’t new to being a mother. “Help yourself to anything you need.”

Sabine, who had finally given into the warm meal in front of her, nodded. “No rush, Hera,” she said. “Jacen and I will be busy with another paint project. Isn’t that right, Spectre Seven?”

Jacen, sitting in the highchair created by Sabine herself, giggled. Hera’s heart swelled anytime she watched Jacen and Sabine interact. For such a guarded woman and fierce warrior, Sabine had a much softer side, one she hid from most of the world. After working with her for years, it no longer surprised Hera. But she was continuously honored to be one of the people Sabine felt comfortable enough to let her walls down around. And she was even more glad her son brought out the big sister in Sabine more often. Hera hadn’t realized how much she missed seeing the sisterly side of Sabine.

“I think Zeb might stop by later too,” Sabine added, tilting her helmet so Jacen could look into it.

Hera smiled. “Tell him to stick around tonight. You too. I’ll make dinner for us all.”

Their lives had pulled them in opposite directions over the past few months and it was becoming increasingly difficult for Hera to gather her whole family under one roof. She understood the reasons; Zeb and Sabine were tasked with helping Lothal reestablish itself as a planet and Hera had a young son to take care of. But no amount of understanding could chase away the pain of happy memories. Their years of fighting had led to the liberation of Lothal, and Hera knew that was no small feat. Yet a small, selfish piece of her longed to live with her mess of a family in the skies again.

All of them.

That line of thinking led to a dangerous tailspin, however, and Hera did not have time for grieving today. So she packed her memories away with the rest of her supplies and focused on what she knew to be true: she would have dinner with Zeb and Sabine later. With that in mind, Hera bid goodbye to Sabine, kissed the top of Jacen’s head, and headed out into the wind.

She didn’t get further than the end of the street before someone interrupted her silence.

A loud series of beeps echoed off the small buildings, ones that could only belong to her own droid. Hera turned around to see Chopper outside their tiny home, waving his mechanical arms at her. He grumbled about being left behind, putting his hands on his hips and causing Hera to question, not for the first time, her decision to add them to his design years ago.

“I’m just heading to the market, Chop,” she told him. “I’ll be back soon.”

Chopper beeped again, already rolling down the street towards her.

“ _You_ need a break? Uh-huh. Remind me, when was the last time _you_ changed a diaper?”

Chopper didn’t answer her, stopping at her feet. He had, apparently, invited himself to join her on her walk. These errand runs, when she could get someone to stay with Jacen, were some of Hera’s only moments of calm during the week. Chopper’s insistent grumbling didn’t exactly contribute to helping her find peace, but Hera couldn’t blame her droid for wanting to escape with her. The little house they were living in was... well, _cramped_ would be putting it lightly. Hera had wanted to remain on _The Ghost,_ as her trusty ship was more of a home to her than any physical building could ever be, but that turned out to be impossible the instant Sabine had come to her in need of transportation. _The Phantom_ wasn’t large enough to transport supplies, and it didn’t make much sense for Hera to move Jacen and the few things they owned every time her ship was needed. So Hera had been given a small place at the edge of the city where she could raise her son as Lothal was rebuilt around her.

And Chopper had been annoyed about it ever since.

“Fine,” Hera said, already returning to her walk. “But I don’t want to hear a peep out of you.” She knew that threat wouldn’t last long, but at least Chopper was kind enough to give her a few minutes of silence. It was during this time that she felt it, a change in the winds. The feeling was enough to put Hera on alert, and the young woman immediately unhooked her blaster from her belt.

Chopper spun around when he saw her, already on the defensive. But he didn’t see anything and told Hera she was just on edge. The droid continued onward, leaving Hera standing alone on the corner, blaster raised. A quick sweep told her Chopper was right, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was waiting for her, just out of reach. She felt as if someone was tapping her on the shoulder, hiding each time she turned. It was a sensation she had felt only once, but one she was sure had been described to her countless times before by Kanan Jarrus.

When she was much younger, Hera laughed at the idea of the Force. An energy connecting all living things? With the amount of hatred and destruction Hera had seen growing up, it was impossible for all living beings to be connected. If they were, people would be more understanding. More patient. More kind. But many only ever cared about themselves. They didn’t stop to watch, let alone listen to an unseen energy. So, for Hera, the Force was just another myth, another story told to make people down on their luck feel better. The Force didn’t work in _mysterious ways,_ people were just unlucky.

But her line of thinking was upended when she met Kanan. One couldn’t live with a Jedi for the better part of a decade and still not be a believer. It took a long time for Kanan to open himself back up to the Force but when he did, even Hera couldn’t come up with enough excuses. The Force had saved her and her family countless times, and the two had settled into a pattern of mutual respect for each other. But respect and trust were two different things, and Hera had always struggled with trusting something she couldn’t see. She finally asked Kanan about it once, point blank.

_“So, if the Force surrounds all living things, why have I never felt it?” She had asked one night. Kanan had spent all day teaching Ezra how to open himself up to the energy, and Hera’s curiosity had finally been piqued._

_Kanan raised an eyebrow at her and Hera knew why. She hardly ever questioned all the strange Jedi happenings on her ship. She trusted Kanan and that was enough... usually. But the young girl within her who grew up hearing stories had resurfaced ever since Ezra had joined the crew. His energy brought out the child in all of them, even the stoic pilot who had written off the Force long ago with the rise of the Empire._

_“Some beings are much stronger with the Force, like Ezra,” Kanan started to explain, settling into his usual place, the co-pilot chair beside her. “They feel it like another sense.”_

_“And people like me never will?”_

_Kanan shook his head. “The Force is with you as much as me. It may not be as natural for you as it is for Ezra, but it’s always there. You just have to listen.”_

She was listening now.

Chopper’s limit on grumbling was up, and he yanked Hera back to the present. He was pulling on her pant leg, telling her to hurry up.

“Alright, Chop! Give it a rest!” By the time she had shaken her leg free, the feeling was gone. Hera followed after Chopper, but she kept a tight grip on her blaster. The other frustrating thing about the Force was that it didn’t give any indication to whether something good or bad was about to happen. Just that _something_ probably would.

It didn’t take long for Hera to purchase her week’s worth of food. As much as she wished Chopper had stayed home, her errands went much quicker with another pair of hands. By the time she had finished filling her bags with fruit, Chopper had returned with the baby food she had tasked him with buying. He handed it to her, along with-

“Chopper, you know I don’t like meiloorun,” she told the orange droid. He was holding a piece of the fruit that was hard to find on Lothal. Hera didn’t even want to know who he had run over to grab it.

Chopper beeped at her, calling her out.

“Yeah, well,” she said, turning away from him. “It’s not my favorite anymore.”

Chopper said a few other things, but Hera blocked them out and focused on her list. She just needed to grab a new pack of diapers for Jacen, then they could return home.

As the Twi’lek headed for the furthest booth at the end of the street, the comm link on her hip suddenly crackled to life. The sound of Sabine’s voice caused Hera’s heart to crash into her stomach, and she wished she had trusted her gut earlier and turned around.

“Hera, come in!”

Hera grappled with the comm, dropping her bag in the process. Supplies rolled across the road, and Chopper wheeled around to collect them. “Sabine, what’s wrong?”

Over the past few months, the comms had hardly been used. If Zeb or Sabine needed something, they usually showed up in person. The urgency of years past was gone, for the most part, so hearing Sabine yell over the comm shook Hera to her core.

"Get back to the house,” Sabine said. “You’re needed. _Now!"_

Hera didn’t even allow herself time to process Sabine’s words. She dropped the rest of the supplies she was carrying and took off, crashing into people as she went. Chopper raced behind her, demanding to know what was going on, but Hera wouldn’t have answered him even if she knew. She ran faster than she ever had in her life, throwing caution to the wind. There was a brief thought that this could be a trap of some kind, but Hera didn’t care. She had a blaster, a droid, and a rage she was about to unleash on the first person she came across if Jacen was in any sort of trouble.

For a city, this wasn’t a very big one. That worked to Hera’s advantage and, as she rounded the last corner onto her street, she was suddenly glad to live so close to the market center. She slowed her pace only when she hit the edge of the house, crouching down to slink under the window. Chopper rolled silently behind her, finally aware that he needed to keep quiet. Hera tried to listen but heard nothing coming from inside. That could be good, or extremely bad.

Hera took a breath, trying to quiet the sound of the blood pumping in her ears. She needed to get to her son, but she had to be smart about it. After taking a moment to collect herself, she nodded to Chopper and kicked in the front door.

The pair entered the house in a hurry, Hera’s finger already on the trigger. “Drop your weapon,” she yelled before she even came around the corner into the living room.

“What the-” someone said, but Hera wasn’t waiting. In one swift motion she jumped into the room, ready to fire. But her finger froze when she was confronted with Zeb and Sabine’s own weapons pointed back at her.

“Hera?” Sabine said, immediately lowering her blasters. “What are you doing?”

Hera lowered her weapon too, but she didn’t put it down yet. “You yelled for me to come home, I thought something was wrong.”

Zeb glared at Sabine. “I _told_ you. You spooked her!”

“Well she said to hurry, I didn’t think-”

“Hey,” Hera interrupted, finally putting her blaster back on her belt. “Care to fill me in on what’s going on?” The two shared a glance with each other, and Hera immediately knew she wouldn’t like what they were about to tell her.

Sabine broke the news. “There was a message from Rebel Command for you.”

Hera wasn’t sure what she was expecting to hear, but that certainly wasn’t it. Rebel Leadership had agreed to let Hera remain on Lothal because of Jacen. It was too dangerous to have an infant on the rebel base on Yavin, and there wasn’t much for Hera to do out there anyway. She was more useful here, relaying updates on Lothal to the rebellion and keeping tabs on what the Empire was up to in the Outer Rim. It had been agreed early on that Rebel Command would not contact Hera directly except in the case of an emergency.

“What did they say?” Hera finally asked, already sensing the direction this could be heading.

“You should hear it yourself,” Zeb said, motioning for Hera to follow. She did, letting Zeb lead her into the small room that doubled as both her and Jacen’s bedroom. Sabine followed, stopping in the doorway. As Hera entered the room, she finally understood Sabine’s urgency.

A hologram of Senator Mon Mothma was being projected into the room from Hera’s communication device. The digital version of the woman turned towards Hera as she entered, giving her a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “General Syndulla,” she greeted. “Glad to see you are well.”

“Senator,” Hera said, the gravity of the unknown situation already sinking in. If Mon Mothma was contacting her directly, the rebellion must be in major trouble. “I’d ask how you are, but I suspect there is something troubling you.”

Mon Mothma nodded gravely, the slight smile disappearing in a flash. “Saw Gerrera was right.”

Hera looked at Sabine, who was frowning. Gerrera was always known for being obsessed with conspiracies, but no one in the rebellion had ever expected any conspiracy he chased to be true. Nothing good could come from Saw Gerrera being right.

Mon Mothma continued. “The Empire has built a terrible weapon. They call it _The Death Star_ , and it has the power to obliterate entire systems.”

Hera was suddenly very aware of Jacen giggling at Chopper in the next room. She drew herself up straighter, meeting the Senator’s gaze. “Why are you calling me?”

“We know where the plans are being held, and we know there is a built in weakness. The Council isn’t in agreement on how to proceed, many don’t want to push the Empire into demonstrating their weapon on their home worlds. But I feel we won’t have a choice.”

“You want to steal the plans and study them to find the weakness.”

“ _I_ do, but the Council is not fully in support. However,” Mon Mothma paused, glancing over her shoulder at something Hera could not see. “I suspect an attempt to capture the plans will be made anyway. And we must be ready.”

Hera held her breath. She knew what was coming.

“I am asking you, General Syndulla, to return to Rebel Base immediately. If anyone is going to go for the plans, this will be our one chance. It’s now or never, and we need every pilot.”

Before Hera could say anything, the transmission ended. The small room went dark, Mon Mothma’s order hanging in the air. For a moment, nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Then Sabine whirred into action, the first to leave the room. “ _T_ _he Ghost_ should be ready for take off, I refueled just last night. It shouldn’t take you long to get back to base, especially if you leave now-”

“Sabine,” Hera tried, her eyes still stuck on the empty space that Mon Mothma had occupied moments earlier. Her head was spinning, and Hera wanted nothing more than to sit on the floor to steady herself. But she couldn’t move.

Sabine wasn’t listening. “Chopper should be good to go, too. He can-”

“No!” Hera finally managed. Her increase in volume echoed through the house, getting Sabine to stop. She and Zeb both turned to look at her, waiting. “I’m not going.”

Zeb stared at her. “Hera, you heard Mon Mothma-”

“Oh, I heard her. But I can’t just _leave_. Not now.”

“Why not?” Sabine challenged. “The Rebellion needs you. It’s now or never.”

Hera shook her head. It was always _now or never_. In the past, Hera would have believed that. She would have launched herself into the pilot chair of _The Ghost_ and been halfway back to Yavin by now. But that was before she lost everything. Before she gained a whole new world in the form of her son.

She would not let him lose everything too.

Hera picked Jacen up from his place on the living room floor, resting him against her chest. “I will not leave him,” she said. Hera saw Zeb’s face soften, but she didn’t want it. What she wanted was to retreat back to the safety of that morning, unaware of the Force around her and the problems of the Rebellion across the galaxy.

Sabine had calmed down, moving towards Hera. “Hera, you’re not leaving him,” she said. “You’re saving him.” Hera shut her eyes, tightening her grip on Jacen. But she didn’t argue, so Sabine continued. “The weapon the Empire has created has the power to destroy planets. Planets just like Lothal. Why did we fight to liberate this planet, Hera?”

 _For Ezra,_ she wanted to say, but that wasn’t the whole truth. She had fought to liberate Lothal to free the innocent citizens unable to rise up against the iron grip of the Empire. That’s why she started a rebellion, believed in what some would label a hopeless cause. For others.

 _“If all you do is fight for your own life,”_ she had once said. _“Then your life is worth nothing.”_

But when did she have to draw the line?

“To give the people a chance at a better life,” she said aloud to Sabine, eyes still closed. She was focused on Jacen’s heartbeat against her own rib cage, fearful it would stop and leave her.

She heard Sabine sit down at the table across from her. “And now you can do it again. People everywhere need you. And Jacen needs you more out there than here.”

Zeb’s voice chimed in. “You’re the best pilot they’ve got, Hera. You aren’t just giving others the chance at a better life. You’re giving Jacen the chance to grow up in a time of peace.”

“A chance none of us ever had.”

Hera knew they were right. She wanted to stand up, to run to her ship. To hit the Empire where it hurts and bring it crashing to the ground. But she was finding it hard to let go.

Then, for the second time that day, Hera was aware of the Force around her. But this time, the energy was less ominous. She wasn’t put on alert, feeling instead a sense of comfort flow through her. There was a slight weight on her shoulder, as if someone had placed their hand there to steady her.

That gave her the strength to open her eyes. “All right,” she said, voice quiet but firm. “I’ll do it.”

Sabine grinned at her, hopping back into action. She ordered Chopper to prep _The Ghost,_ then rushed into the other room to shove items into a bag for Hera. The young pilot kept her arms around Jacen, but she drew herself up, feeling braver. The touch on her shoulder still lingered, but Hera knew better than to turn around. She let herself believe, for just a moment, that Kanan stood in the space behind her. She knew what he would be telling her with that one gesture.

_I believe in you._

If the Force could believe in her, if _Kanan_ could believe in her, then so could she.

Hera placed a kiss on Jacen’s forehead, letting his own hands linger on her face for a moment. Then she set him down and reached for her signature goggles, strapping them to her head. “Zeb, you’re with me,” Hera said, finally facing the Lasat.

He immediately nodded, hooking his weapon to his back. “Gladly,” he said, cracking his knuckles. Zeb was always ready for a fight, something Hera wished she could say for herself. But she was getting there.

“And Sabine, I need you to-”

“I know,” the Mandalorian stopped her, handing a small bag to Hera. Sabine looked down at Jacen, smiling slightly. “We’ll be just fine. Now _go!_ ”

Zeb was already out the front door. Hera followed after him, the adrenaline of such a quick departure pumping through her.

“And Hera,” Sabine called, stopping her before she could leave. Hera turned around to face the other woman holding her son on her hip. “May the Force be with you.”

Those simple words were all Hera needed to depart. She ducked out the front door and ran for her ship, mind clearer than it had been in weeks. As she flew up the ramp and jumped into the pilot chair, she fell into the familiar routine of running her pre flight checks on _The Ghost_. Within minutes, her ship was lifting into the air, pulling away from Lothal. As the planet’s surface shrunk, Hera allowed herself one last look towards the small house on the edge of the city.

She saw the two pieces of her heart she was leaving behind, waving. Jacen sat on Sabine’s shoulders, a smile bright enough for Hera to catch from the cockpit. As the ship gained altitude and Jacen grew harder to see, Hera forced herself to wave back at him. She wasn’t leaving him behind, she _would_ return.

Hera was fighting for Jacen. To give him a chance at a life free from fear. She had always fought for others, but suddenly this rebellion she built from the ground up held more weight than it ever had before. The life of her own child was on the line.

And anything that was a threat to General Hera Syndulla’s son had a big storm coming.

**Author's Note:**

> As I was rewatching "Rogue One" the other day, I wondered how Hera would manage participating in the mission on Scarif. The idea of a single mother with an infant fighting in such a pivotal moment for the rebellion wouldn't leave me alone, and I knew there had to be a reason Hera would leave Jacen at such a young age to finally return to the fight. This is that reason.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this moment as much as me. Because Hera Syndulla has been through it all, but she still has more to do.


End file.
